They ask to trust them, again!

To the Editor:

On Wednesday, June 5 at 6 p.m., you will have an opportunity to speak before the council votes on the 3X your sewer rate to nearly $360 a year. I am amazed how the current rate of $120 a year, which has been in place for nearly 20 years and which had built up a surplus of $7 million that was recently raided by $4.5 million to pay salaries of city staff, still has a balance of $3M million that now is considered low.

One could make an very good argument that the rate was really too high for a very long time since it built up a surplus until it was raided and used to pay $120,000 per year for salaries and other overhead costs instead of saving for a new plant. I don’t disagree that some upgrades are needed, but where is a list of those needed repairs and the engineered project cost?

It is like your kid asking you for money, but not telling you why – “Just trust me, Dad, even though I wasted most of my savings just last week.” If the councilmembers want the public to trust them, they should show the list of upgrades and/or repairs needed in detail along with the engineered cost.

Instead, they rush on the last council meeting possible to put the rate increase on our tax rolls for next year. The rate increase or any repair projects have not been to committee or full council until the last possible night. If the council put the $4.5-million loan back in the wastewater fund, it would have more than enough in the wastewater fund for another year or two to properly make the case with engineered data.

Can we trust councilmembers with millions more of tax dollars when they are abusing the trust of the public this past year with not a single street project at all with Measure L dollars?